ALLENDALE — The Grand Valley State football team picked an opportunistic afternoon to discover some strengths in its running game.

Braving blustery 20 mph winds and steady rain in the team’s annual spring game Saturday at Lubbers Stadium, the rushing attack excelled while the always-prolific Lakers passing game was stymied by the elements.

“It was very wet,” second-year coach Matt Mitchell said with a laugh. “It was a struggle with the wind and the ball to even throw it at times. I’m glad, at least in the first two series when we had our first group in, it was semi-dry. The thing you take away from today is we have some good running backs and some bigger tailbacks than maybe we’ve had at Grand Valley in the past. Maybe the cumulative effect of rotating through some bigger backs can punish some people.”

Sophomore running back Hersey Jackson highlighted that group early, with a 38-yard touchdown run on the first offensive set of the game. He finished with 62 yards rushing on five carries.

“You get used to the changing of the weather and how the ground’s going to be,” Jackson said. “You’ve got to get used to it. It’s a little different, but it felt good.”

Much of the attention heading into the game was focused on the quarterback battle, where sophomore Heath Parling seems to be emerging as the top signal-caller. He was 3-for-6 for 34 yards in the scrimmage.

“Over the course of the spring practices, he has probably given himself an advantage heading into the summer and the fall camp,” Mitchell said. “That’s based on his experience, but I also thought Heath did a good job of throwing the football in the spring practices.”

Parling is competing with freshmen Isiah Grimes (4-for-6, 35 yards), Taylor Copacia (4-for-6, 42 yards) and Brandon Beitzel for positioning on the quarterback depth chart. The competition among friends, Parling said, is beneficial for the team.

“Those three guys are three of my best friends on the team,” Parling said. “It’s kind of fun to compete with (people) you care about because it’s going to make you try that much harder. It’s healthy for the team when you have a good quarterback competition, because it’s not like we’re all going for each others’ head.”

By the end of the practice, the defense was buzzing about a 76-46 victory, determined by a modified scoring system that awarded points for sacks, tackles for loss and other key defensive stops, as well as traditional scores.

The offense jumped out to a 14-1 lead after Jackson’s touchdown — Robinson’s 18-yard touchdown was the only other score of the day — but by the final two segments, the defense was able to sniff out most of the offense’s predictable running plays.

“We can cheat a little more if the ball’s not going to be thrown,” said defensive back Charles Hill, who finished with five tackles, one for loss. “And the linemen just go hard every play.”

Freshman lineman Matt Judon led the White team with 10 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. Freshman defensive back Deonte Hurst (East Kentwood) had three tackles, two for a loss and one interception.

The Lakers will kick off the 2011 campaign Sept. 1 against Western Oregon, hoping to extend their streak to 11 consecutive playoff appearances — with four national titles in that span — and shake off the disappointment of a 38-6 second-round loss to Augustana (S.D.) College in last year’s Division II playoffs.

To do that as they have with past teams, the Lakers will rely heavily on their quarterback — whoever it may be.

“You’ve got to be able to lead the whole team,” Parling said. “You’ve got to know every single player’s job on every play. And just running the offense, managing the game, making the correct reads, throwing the ball in the right places. ... I can’t really pinpoint one thing, but I’m looking forward to getting to work in the summer.”